Difference between revisions of "Help:Footnotes"
(How to add [citation needed], i.e. {{fact}} - this is where any user would look for, since he does not know it's totally different from a footnote.) |
(minor formatting + clarification) |
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You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way. | You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way. | ||
| − | When you want to note that a reference would be needed, use instead the {{[[Template:fact|fact]]}} template. | + | When you want to note that a reference would be needed, use instead the '''{{[[Template:fact|fact]]}}''' template. |
===Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote=== | ===Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote=== | ||
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===What it looks like === | ===What it looks like === | ||
| − | The '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, like this: | + | The '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, and '''{{[[Template:fact|fact]]}}''' is expanded to "citation needed", like this: |
{|class=wikitable | {|class=wikitable | ||
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:The third reference to Perry's Handbook and to another, related book.<ref name="Perry"/><ref>Nuclear Chemical Engineering (2nd Edition), McGraw-Hill Co., 1981.</ref> | :The third reference to Perry's Handbook and to another, related book.<ref name="Perry"/><ref>Nuclear Chemical Engineering (2nd Edition), McGraw-Hill Co., 1981.</ref> | ||
| − | :The only reference to Linux in a Nutshell<ref>Linux in a Nutshell, O'Reily Co., 2003.</ref> | + | :The only reference to Linux in a Nutshell.<ref>Linux in a Nutshell, O'Reily Co., 2003.</ref> |
| − | :A | + | :A statement that requires a reference.{{fact}} |
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 05:10, 31 July 2007
This page explains very briefly how to create numbered footnotes and references using the <ref> ... </ref> and <references/> syntax, which is the current best-practice method in most circumstances. See Wikipedia:Footnotes for more detail.
An older method, using {{ref}} and {{note}} templates, is explained at Wikipedia:Footnote3. Apart from Harvard references, this method is obsolete. See Wikipedia:Embedded citations for a third approach.
Single citation of a reference or footnote
At the point of citation in the main text, enter the reference or footnote like this:
- <ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref>
You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way.
When you want to note that a reference would be needed, use instead the {{fact}} template.
Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote
To cite the same reference or footnote several times, identify it using the name parameter of the <ref> tag.
At one of the citation points (it makes sense to choose the first), enter the reference like this:
- <ref name="Perry">Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref>
Then, at all the other citation points just enter:
- <ref name="Perry"/>
Producing the reference or footnote list
At the point where you want the text of the footnotes or references to appear (usually at the end of the article in a "Notes" or "References" section), insert the tag:
- <references/>
What it looks like
The <ref> tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, and {{fact}} is expanded to "citation needed", like this:
|
Clicking on a numbered superscript takes you straight to the text of the corresponding footnote or reference.
The <references/> tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:
For single citations, clicking on the caret (^) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.
For multiple citations, the links back to the main text are distinguished by letter superscripts (a, b, c etc.). Clicking on a letter superscript takes you to the corresponding citation in the main text.
Using templates to insert reference text
A number of templates, such as {{cite book}} and {{cite web}}, are available to format the text between the <ref> and </ref> tags in a more structured way. These are described at Wikipedia:Citation templates. Their use is optional: they do aid with consistent formatting, but on the other hand they can make editing more cumbersome.
See also
- Wikipedia:Footnotes (Further details on this method, specific to wikipedia)
- m:help:footnotes (General MediaWiki footnotes documentation)
- m:Cite.php (technical details about cite.php technology)nl:help:voetnoot
